DATEWORTHY? YES! This biopic of Christian-pop superstar Bart Millard, the lead singer of MercyMe who wrote the biggest-selling Christian-pop song of all time after a lifetime of struggling with his alcoholic father, is compelling and touching entertainment that transcends the usual preachiness of the genre and has become a bona fide surprise blockbuster. It also has a moving romance and is great date-night material for anyone, and will likely stand as one of the year’s absolute best films..
ACTING: 10
WRITING: 10
CHARACTERS: 10
EMOTION: 10
ROMANCE: 8
OVERALL: 9.6 out of 10
There has been a boom in Christian-themed films ever since Mel Gibson’s “The Passion of the Christ” exploded in 2004 to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, with $370 million at the US box office alone and over $600 million earned worldwide. (That number would have been even higher if many Muslim nations hadn’t banned it, leading to reports of massive bootlegging which Gibson encouraged as a means of evangelizing).
Some of these films have done quite well, like “Heaven Is For Real” with a $90 million gross thanks to the marketing power of Sony and a cast featuring Oscar nominees Greg Kinnear and Thomas Haden Church, and the first “God’s Not Dead” which racked up over $60 million with a no-name cast. Sony has gone on to create a thriving special division called Affirm Films, and this weekend the wave of faith films is so strong that three of them could hit the top 10: “Paul, Apostle of Christ” (from Affirm), “God’s Not Dead 3” and the third weekend of the surprise smash hit “I Can Only Imagine.”
Sorry to say, but I usually dread these films due to the fact most rely on simpleminded, heavy-handed storylines that preach strictly to the choir. But “Imagine” is a most welcome surprise, telling a compellingly human story that speaks to universally relatable issues of family discord, forgiveness and redemption as well as featuring a touching romance and an intriguing look at the creative process.
The fact that it centers upon the same-titled song that has become the best-selling single in Christian-rock history (selling more than 3 million copies upon its 2001 release and continuing to be played frequently to this day) makes this a film that might spark more interest from Catholics than towards most songs in the genre.
The film opens on Bart Millard (Broadway star J. Michael Finley, in his first starring role in a film) telling legendary Christian-pop singer Amy Grant (Nicole Duport) about how he wrote the title song. He tells her it only took him ten minutes to write the song, but she tells him a song that deep really takes one’s whole life to accomplish.
And so it is that Bart takes a look back at his incredibly difficult childhood, living in rural Texas under the iron-fist rule of his alcoholic father Arthur (Dennis Quaid, in an Oscar-worthy turn). Arthur constantly tells Bart that dreams are pointless, trashing his imaginative self-made toys as a young boy and driving his oversized son to follow his footsteps as a high school football player after Bart’s mom runs away.
But when Bart breaks his leg in a severe on-field injury, he’s told he’ll never play again. He winds up joining his high school glee club, first offering only to work the sound board for their performances until the teacher in charge of the club hears him belting out rock songs when he thinks no one is listening.
Soon Bart is the star of the school musical “Oklahoma!” and has a supportive girlfriend named Shannon (Madeline Carroll), both of which he hides from Arthur. But when Arthur abuses him one too many times, Bart moves out as soon as he graduates and winds up forming a Christian-rock band called Mercy Me.
Their initial songs don’t impress veteran Christian-rock manager Brickell (country singer Trace Adkins in a terrific performance), but the film becomes a riveting and emotionally engaging exploration of the faith that kept Bart going even as the world didn’t seem to care about his music. It grows into a story filled with love, redemption, reconciliation and resolve, and if that sounds like I’m giving anything away, trust me, there’s still much more to the story and the scene where he finally reveals his song to a crowd is a timelessly classic moment.
For me to like this film so much is a remarkable testament to just how good it is. “I Can Only Imagine” very likely will even last to stand on my year-end Top 10 list, and again this is a genre I usually disdain or flat-out avoid. Finley is a breakout talent, Quaid delivers one of the best performances of his career, and the music is powerful.
The proof of how much this is crossing over to non-fundamentalists is in its box office, where it made $17 million its opening weekend to beat even the second weekend of the much-more-hyped “A Wrinkle in Time,” then held on to a huge chunk of its opening auidience with a $13 million weekend last week. I’ll bet that it scores big at the box office again this weekend as millions of Americans turn to thoughts of God amid the holiest weekend of the year.
And I can only imagine that anyone reading this will absolutely love it.
